I do a lot of volunteer work with kids between the ages of 12-16. You would be amazed at how little they know about the Beatles and how many of them don't know who Paul McCartney is?? I always think the Beatles will be like Gershwin always out there - but after this generation x (And i'm 2nd generation cause i was born after Pepper) fades - i think you will see a different history on the Beatles impact.

There's a girl in the office who is 25 and she didn't know who George Harrison is and didn't know any Beatles records and few Beatles songs. A lot of people from NYC who are African-American or Latin don't have the same 2nd or third generation connection to the Beatles.

I think the Beatles impact is much more pronounced in the white suburbs and i think their impact beyond that is not as popular as you would think.

Another interesting topic around the water cooler is the impact upon today's music - one of the things that i think is true is that James Brown has a bigger impact on today's sound than Elvis or the Beatles. IF you think about it, Brown was a pioneer in hip-hop, soul, R and B and many of the sounds you here today. If you really study it, pop and Rock is at its lowest ebb since 1980's...Beatles impact and Presley's impact on today's music isn't that great. I really feel that Hip-hop and neo-soul is more of a descendant of James Brown than anything else.

Given what kids hear on the radio, it's little wonder that they are so ignorant about the Beatles.I would also like to add that they don't even know what Rock and roll is either. I am only generalizing here, but I have co workers in their 20s who listen to Rap and those little girl and boy bands out there-pop music all day and I am totally gagging! Sorry.They actually BUY that stuff. Incredible.I am just amazed at how little talent they are willing to settle for.I know there are lots of young people who are hip to RNR and they know who the Beatles are.

It is very disturbing. But I don't think the kids are to blame - it's the record bosses, who are signing up all these talentless acts and flooding the market with all this sh!t - they're all just in it for a quick buck. Cheap thrills . . . [REACHES FOR SICK BAG]

You are quite welcome! Better than my foreign languages right now - it's been two years since I last spoke any French, Spanish or Italian, and four years since I last spoke any German - my foreign languages are so rusty they're falling off their hinges!

Everybody can speak English here. Everybody used to be able to speak German, but then 60 years ago it suddenly lost a lot of its popularity. Lord knows why...

I don't think there are many Englishmen even trying to speak any foreign language, since you don't really have to. Half the world can understand English. Nobody outside Holland speaks Dutch, so it's important for us to be able to speak a little German and French and a lot of English.